Furling group

ABSTRACT

A furling group ( 1 ) for furling flexible bodies (FB) includes a frame ( 10 ) which supports a mandrel ( 20 ) in an angularly rotatable manner about a fixed axis ( 22 ); an actuating unit ( 30 ) being mechanically connected to the mandrel ( 20 ) in order to rotate the mandrel ( 20 ) axially so as to furl a flexible body (FB); a transmission unit ( 40 ) being arranged between the actuating unit ( 30 ) and the mandrel ( 20 ), in order to transmit a torque to the mandrel ( 20 ) according to a given transmission ratio (τ) sufficient to control a furling action for furling the flexible body (FB), and with the transmission unit ( 40 ) having a mechanical control device ( 50 ) suitable to cooperate with the actuating unit ( 30 ) in order to condition an unfurling of the flexible body (FB) from the mandrel ( 20 ).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a furling group for furling flexiblebodies. In particular, the present invention relates to a furling groupprovided with a mechanically actuated mandrel for furling flexiblebodies. In more detail, the present invention relates to a furling groupprovided with a mechanically actuated mandrel for furling flexiblebodies provided with a control device for controlling the relatedunfurling.

2. Description of the Related Art

In the sailing sector it is well known that the need to simplify themanagement of boats of increasingly greater sizes and the need tominimize the crew necessary to sail the boats requires engineers tomechanize as many operations as possible. To this end, on sailboats,electrical groups or assemblies for furling the foresails and electricalgroups or assemblies for furling the mainsail inside a correspondingmast or inside a corresponding boom are increasingly used, as well aselectrical winches for furling warps, usually called halyards or sheetsdepending upon the type of use.

Hereinafter explicit reference will be made to winches for winching andtensioning textile lines, but it will be clearly apparent that what isdescribed with reference to those products also applies to furlinggroups for furling panels, covering awnings, and sails.

The use of winches with a horizontal axis which can be actuated throughhydraulic or electrical actuating groups, generally called “reelwinches” or “captive winches”, produces the great advantage of havingthe deck always free of lines which could get entangled or could hinderthose who must or want to cross the deck to reach a given location.These electrical devices therefore allow for storage of lines byorganizing lines in well-ordered turns, thus greatly increasing thedegree of safety of sailboats, with the result that the neophyte usertends to perceive sailboats as increasingly safer, and increasingly morefrequently such perceptions weigh upon the purchase or the charter ofsuch electrically equipped sailboats, with the result of increasingprofitability of this market sector.

These winches regularly operate when the line is wound about the mandreland is unwound from the mandrel in a well-ordered manner, being woundabout turns parallel to each other, so as to prevent the line from beingan obstacle/block for the rotation of the mandrel.

However, if the load acting onto the line would be cancelled, the lackof tangential tension/torque acting on the mandrel could cause aloosening of the line, which could be distributed in an unorderly mannerabout the mandrel, since the turns could tend to overlap each relativeto the other and the winch could jam.

Among the producers of hydraulic winches with a horizontal axis are twoAmerican firms, Harken and Lewmar, and one Dutch firm, Rondal, which areknown for the deck equipment.

The above described problem has been solved in different manners by thevarious producers. For example, Lewmar uses a so-called feeder in alowered position, comprising a longitudinally movable eyelet to feed theline to the mandrel at a given step for each revolution of the mandrel,so as to produce well-ordered turns.

The presence of the feeder, projecting from the mandrel, tends to movethe exceeding line away from the mandrel, thus preventing accumulationof the line in positions such as to cause a jam of the rotation of themandrel.

In other cases, the movable feeder comprises a pulley with an axistransverse to that of the mandrel, and therefore arranged transversallyto the tension acting on the winch. It is well understood that a feedersuch as the one described above does not allow completely for a solutionto the problem described above.

In this regard, the present invention described herein introduces theuse of an optical sensor installed in an end position on a plate whichlongitudinally delimits the mandrel. This sensor is connected to acontrol station for controlling the actuator in order to actuate thecontrol station to reset a load condition on the line through theactuation of the rotation of the mandrel by the number of degreesnecessary for furling the loose rope and therefore for preventing jams.It should be noted that the choice of using such a device presents somedrawbacks, first of all the fact that the sensor is electrical, andtherefore subject to breakdowns due to lack of power, a situation whichoffshore has more probabilities of occurrence and can be solved withmore difficulty than in onshore environments; furthermore, the fact thatthe sensor is of the optical type, and therefore sensitive to dirt andto the deposits of saltiness, which requires frequent and carefulmaintenance.

In view of the situation described above, it would be desirable to haveavailable a curling group or assembly which, in addition to limiting andpossibly overcoming the drawback illustrated above of the known art in asimple and economic manner, could define a new standard for this type ofequipment.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a furling group for furling flexiblebodies. In particular, the present invention relates to a furling groupprovided with a mechanically actuated mandrel for furling flexiblebodies. In more detail, the present invention relates to a furling groupprovided with a mechanically actuated mandrel for furling flexiblebodies provided with a control device for controlling the relatedunfurling.

The object of the present invention is to provide a furling group whichallows the drawbacks illustrated above to be solved, and which issuitable to satisfy a plurality of unanswered requirements in thecurrent state of the art, and therefore suitable to represent a new andoriginal source of economic interest, suitable to modify the currentmarket of the furling groups for furling flexible bodies.

According to the present invention a furling group is provided, whosemain characteristics will be described in at least one of the attachedclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Further characteristics and advantages of the furling group according tothe present invention will be more apparent from the description below,set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrateat least one non-limiting example of an embodiment, in which identicalor corresponding parts of the device are identified by the samereference numbers. In particular:

FIG. 1 is a view in a longitudinal cross-section of a preferredembodiment of a furling group according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in an enlarged scale of a detail extracted from FIG. 1;and

FIG. 3 is an exploded schematic perspective view of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, reference numeral 1 indicates, in its entirety, afurling group for furling a flexible body FB, which can comprise, forexample but without limiting the scope of the present invention, acovering curtain or awning, a sail, a textile warp or a cable inmetallic material.

It should be specified that in the attached drawings the particularembodiment of the furling group according to the present invention isillustrated by showing the mechanical members which are necessary forthe operation of the group together with auxiliary mechanicalcomponents, necessary to couple the mechanical members according to theoperation prescriptions. However, for the sake of simplicity, in thedescription below these auxiliary components, such as, for example,bearings for centering rotary members, elastic rings for fixinglongitudinally these bearings, sealing members, threaded connectingmembers, etc., the need and knowledge of which is known to those skilledin the art and therefore requires no explanations, which could only makethe description lengthy, and therefore will not be described in greaterdetail.

With reference to FIG. 1 again, the group 1 comprises a frame 10supporting a mandrel or drum 20 in an angularly rotatable manner about afixed axis 22 by means of a pair of adequately shaped plates 12 of theframe 10, through the interposition of known rolling bearings,illustrated in FIG. 1. This mandrel 20 represents the member providedfor furling the flexible body or cable FB, and is axially delimited by apair of faces 24, substantially transverse to the axis 22, and presents,at one end, an helical groove 60 dimensioned so as to house, in asubstantially exact manner, flexible body FB.

It should be noted that this groove 60 represents an engaging device 60associated with the mandrel 20 for guiding each flexible body FB whilefurling about the mandrel 20. Therefore, for the sake of simplicity,hereinafter the term “flexible body FB” will mean a line, which has beenillustrated in the attached drawings exclusively in cross section, woundabout the mandrel 20 inside a portion of the groove 60.

Furthermore, the group 1 comprises an actuating unit 30 mechanicallyconnected to the mandrel 20 so as to rotate the mandrel 20 in such amanner as to wind the flexible body FB. A transmission unit 40 isarranged between the actuating unit and the mandrel 20 so as to transmitto the mandrel 20 a torque according to a given transmission ratio τsufficient to bring the mandrel 20 in rotation so as to control afurling of the flexible body FB. The transmission unit 40 comprises acontrol device 50 of a mechanical type, suitable to cooperate with theactuating unit 30 in order to condition an unwinding of the flexiblebody FB from the mandrel 20 only after having applied a tangentialtraction on the flexible body, in particular a tension applied to theflexible body FB. It is not necessary to specify that the transmissionratio τ can also have the value of unity or otherwise the transmissionratio τ can move away from the value of unity significantly in the caseof transmissions of the planetary type, without however varying orlimiting the scope of the present invention.

The actuating unit 30 comprises at least a rotary actuator 32 which canrotate a drive shaft 36 clockwise and counter-clockwise. In particular,in the solution illustrated in the attached drawings, a plurality ofactuators 32 is provided, arranged in an uniform manner about the axis22 so as to give engine power to the mandrel 20 in a balanced manner,and each actuator 32 comprises a geared motor of a reversible type,provided with a related coaxial gearing group 34 which ends with a driveshaft 36.

On the other hand, it should be noted that the teachings given in thisdescription can be validly applied also in the case in which low poweris required to operate the furling device 1, and therefore only anactuator 32 can be used. In any case, again with reference to theattached drawings, for each actuator 32 the transmission unit 40comprises a first transmission member 42, arranged between the mandrel20 and a sleeve 38 acting as elongation for the drive shaft 36 of theactuator 32 so as to exchange torque between the actuator 32 and themandrel 20.

A control device 50 is provided in combination with each actuator 32,and comprises a second transmission member 52 arranged between the firsttransmission member 42 and the related drive shaft 36 so as to avoidfree rotations of the mandrel 20 in a direction opposite to the furlingdirection set by the actuating unit 30 and such as to reduce the tensionacting on the flexible body FB tangentially to the mandrel 20, andtherefore to cause probable malfunctions difficult to be foreseen, dueto, just by the way of non-limiting example, accumulation of portions ofthe flexible body FB between the mandrel 20 and parts rigidly connectedto the frame 10, for example below a protection lid 14 which closes atthe top the group 1. Each second transmission member 52 comprises a freegear 52 which, as it is known, is a mechanical transmission memberprovided with a pair of concentric rings, wherein one ring is a drivering and the other is a driven one. In the most known case, which isapplied in bicycles, the drive ring is the outer one and the driven ringis the inner one. Usually, the inner ring presents an outer shellprovided of cavities arranged in a uniform stepped manner and presentthe respective concavity arranged in the opposite direction relative tothe direction of orientation of the torque which can be transmitted fromthe outer ring to the inner ring.

Each cavity houses a roller against the thrust of a deformable elasticbody in relative free rotation phase of the two rings, and substantiallynot deformed in phase of transmission of the torque from the outer ringto the inner ring. It is easy to understand that, without a torque to betransmitted from the outer ring to the inner ring, each elastic bodywill tend to shorten and to allow the corresponding roller to insert ina respective cavity, where the roller can roll freely excluding thetransmission of torque between the two rings, until the speed ofrotation of the outer ring tends to be equal to the speed of rotation ofthe inner ring. Hereinafter, as the speed of rotation of the outer ringincreases, the roller is ejected from the cavity due to the action ofthe elastic body and therefore the condition will be recovered, whichallows the transmission of the torque between the rings. Clearly, in thecase in which the inner ring is rotated in the opposite direction, therewill be the possibility to transmit torque also at a speed of rotationof the outer ring which is absolutely lower relative to a fixedreference.

Therefore, each free gear 52 mechanically connects in a direct-drivemanner the drive shaft 36 to the first transmission member 42 and, inuse, the free gear 52 is suitable to block selectively an inverserotation of the first transmission member 42 relative to the drive shaft36 or, in the case in which the corresponding actuator 32 is actuated ina direction opposite to the direction which determines the furling ofthe mandrel 20, to rotate in opposite direction so as to maintain theflexible body FB tensioned on the mandrel 20 and therefore to prevent anoverlapping of turns and/or the occurrence of interferences between themandrel 20 and the flexible body FB and consequent jams.

With reference to FIG. 1 again, the actuating unit 30 and thetransmission unit 40 are longitudinally and radially contained insidethe mandrel 20. This presents the great advantage of minimizing theoverall bulk of the group 1 along the axis 22, and therefore the group 1can be installed in an easier manner in limited spaces.

Furthermore, the transmission unit 40 is of the planetary type andcomprises a solar gear 44 which is coaxial to and rigidly connected withthe mandrel 20, and the transmission unit 40 furthermore comprises aplurality of planet gears contained inside the solar gear 44 andengaging with the solar gear 44 so as to allow the transmission of thetorque from each actuator 32 to the mandrel 20.

In particular, each planet gear matches a first transmission member 42and each free gear 52 carries, keyed/shrunk on its own outer ring, thecorresponding planet gear which is indicated, for the sake ofsimplicity, with the same reference number 42. It should be furthermorespecified that the actuating unit 30 comprises an actuator 32 for eachplanet gear 42, with four actuators 32 shown in the attached drawings,and each actuator 32 carries a planet gear 42 shrunk on its drive shaft36.

In order to recover the allowances between the mechanical componentswhich can inevitably occur due to the use of the group 1, and thereforeto avoid micro-rotations of the mandrel 20 for unwinding the flexiblebody FB from the mandrel 20, the control device 50 comprises at least athrust member 54 carried by the frame 10 in combination with the mandrel20 so as to hinder a motion of axial rotation thereof. This thrustmember 54 comprises an axial brake element 54 facing one of the twofaces 24 of the mandrel 20 parallel to the axis 22 and screw-adjustableagainst the thrust of a spring so as to produce a friction stall torquesuitable to dissipate energy of rotation of the mandrel 20.

The group comprises a control unit 70 electronically connected with theactuating unit 30 so as to actuate simultaneously each rotary actuator32 and therefore to control each actuator 32 in clockwise orcounter-clockwise rotation at a speed adjustable at will.

In view of the above description it is clearly apparent that thepresence of this control unit 70 allows a controlled unwinding of theflexible body FB from the mandrel 20, and therefore the control unit 70allows the operator to slacken flexible body FB according to the currentassessment of the real requirements. The condition which determines thispossibility is the start of a contrary rotation of each actuator 32which does not cause the inverse rotation of the mandrel 20 and theunfurling of the flexible body FB, but allows inverse rotations of themandrel 20 at a speed limited by the actual value of the inversecomposite speed of the actuators 32 through the transmission ratio τ.

The presence of free gears 52 on the axis of the engines produces afunctional situation wherein the lack of tension on the mandrel 20 andtherefore on the flexible body FB prevents the flexible body or warp FBfrom unfurling from the mandrel 20.

The use of the group 1 is easy to understand from the description belowand does not require further explanations. In addition, thekeying/shrinking of the planet gears 42 on the free gears 52 allows thetransmission unit 40 to be interpreted as a limiting device of themechanical type for limiting the maximum speed with which it is possibleto unfurl the mandrel 20, following the inverse actuation of the powerunit 30.

In view of the above description, by trying, in use, to unfurl theflexible body/the warp FB at a speed greater than the speed of contraryrotation set for the actuators 32, the mandrel 20 tends to rest onto thefree gears 52, which causes a limitation of the speed of unfurling ofthe mandrel 20, thus hindering the idle unfurling of the flexiblebody/the warp FB. It is clearly possible to set the operation of thecontrol unit 70 in such a manner that the speed of the actuators 32 canbe adjusted as the tension acting on the flexible body FB varies. Thiswill be obviously possible by using inverse torque sensors incombination with the mandrel 20.

Furthermore, the use of the control device 50 may be of a substantiallymechanical type in combination with the transmission unit 40 whichallows transmission of a torque to the mandrel 20 according to a giventransmission ratio τ, of any value, in a preferred direction of furlingor, selectively, to rotate the mandrel 20 in a backward motion andtherefore to allow the unfurling of the flexible body FB wound about themandrel 20 without the need for turning on or switching. Clearly this isdue to the use of the free gears 52, which minimize the number of startsup of the actuators 32 necessary to allow the unfurling of the mandrel20, and therefore the number of the respective voltage peaks, eventsthat, as it is well known, can occur unexpectedly in start-uptransients, and which can put the respective electric orelectro-hydraulic circuits out of use.

It is easy to understand that this is particularly useful when oneoperates on powerful actuators such as those sometimes used in the “reelwinch” far away from assistance stations, such as in equipment for shipuse.

Lastly, it is clear that modifications and variants can be applied tothe group described herein without however departing from the protectivescope of the present invention.

In view of the above description, it is clearly understood that thefurling group 1 produced according to the teachings described abovesolves the drawbacks described above, irrespective of the number ofactuators 32 used to actuate the mandrel 20, and is suitable to satisfya plurality of still unanswered requirements in the current state of theart. Therefore, the furling group 1 represents a new and original sourceof economic interest, suitable for modification, at low cost and with asolution conceptually easy, as based upon the use of mechanical andtherefore particularly reliable members with zero power consumption. Thesolution described above is therefore suitable to modify potentially ina substantial manner the current market of the furlers for furlingflexible bodies, such as covering awnings, sails or warps for nauticaluse.

1. A furling group (1) for furling flexible bodies (FB), comprising aframe (10) supports a drum (20) in an angularly rotatable manner arounda fixed axis (22); an actuating unit (30) being mechanically connectedto said drum (20) in order to rotate the drum (20) axially so as to furlsaid flexible body (FB); a transmission unit (40) being arranged betweensaid actuating unit and said drum (20), in order to transmit a torque tosaid drum (20) according to a given transmission ratio (τ) sufficient tocontrol a furling action for furling said flexible body (FB); whereinsaid transmission unit (40) comprises a mechanical limiting device (40)for limiting the speed of unfurling of said drum (20).
 2. A groupaccording to claim 1, further comprising mechanical control means (50)suitable to cooperate with said actuating unit (30) in order tocondition an unfurling of said flexible body (FB) from said drum (20)only after having applied a tangential traction on the flexible body(FB).
 3. A furling group according to claim 2, wherein said actuatingunit (30) comprises at least a rotary actuator (32) of the reversibletype, provided with its own drive shaft (32); said transmission unit(40) comprising a first transmission member (42) arranged between saiddrum (20) and a respective drive shaft (36) in order to exchange torquebetween a respective actuator (32) and said drum (20); said controlmeans (50) comprising a second transmission member (52) arranged betweensaid first transmission member (42) and said drive shaft (36); saidsecond transmission member (52) being designed so as to allow inversefree rotations of said drum (20) at a limited rotation speed which canbe calculated as the product of a maximum value of an inverse rotationspeed of each said drive shaft (36) and of said transmission ratio (τ).4. A group according to claim 3, wherein each said second transmissionmember (52) comprises a free wheel (52) direct-drive mechanicallyconnected with said drive shaft (36) of said rotary actuator (32) inorder to transmit a torque produced by said rotary actuator (32) in agiven direction of rotation to said first transmission member (42) andselectively to block an inverse rotation of said first transmissionmember (42) with respect to said drive shaft (36) and to allow said drum(20) to rotate in an opposite direction if the actuator is actuated in adirection opposite to the direction which causes the furling of the drum(20) avoiding interferences between said drum (20) and said flexiblebody (FB).
 5. A group according to claim 4, wherein said actuating unit(30) and said transmission unit (40) are longitudinally and radiallycontained inside said drum (20), in order to minimize the total bulkalong said axis (22).
 6. A group according to claim 5, wherein saidtransmission unit (40) comprises a solar wheel (44) coaxial and rigidlyconnected to said integral drum (20), and a plurality of satellitewheels (42) contained inside said solar wheel (44) and engaging withsaid solar wheel (44).
 7. A group according to claim 6, wherein saidactuating unit (30) comprises said actuator (32) for each said satellitewheel (42); and wherein each said actuator (32) carries said satellitewheel (42) keyed on its drive shaft (36).
 8. A group according to claim4, wherein said control means (50) comprise at least a thrust member(54) carried by said frame (10) in combination with said drum (20) inorder to contrast a movement of axial rotation thereof.
 9. A groupaccording to claim 8, wherein said drum (20) is axially delimited by apair of faces (24) substantially transverse to said axis (22); andwherein said thrust member (54) comprising a rudder rope (54) axiallyadjustable through a screw against one of said two faces (24) of saiddrum (20) parallel to said axis (22), in order to produce a resistanttorque by friction suitable to dissipate energy of rotation of said drum(20).
 10. A group according to claim 3, wherein each said free rotationof said drum (20) can be obtained by subjecting said flexible body (FB)to traction tangentially to said drum (20).
 11. A group according toclaim 10, wherein said drum (20) presents fastening means (60)associated with said drum (20) in order to guide each said flexible body(FB) while furling on said drum (20).
 12. A group according to claim 11,wherein said fastening means (60) comprise a helical groove (60)dimensioned so as to house said flexible cable (FB) in a substantiallyexact manner.
 13. A group according to claim 3, further comprising anelectronic control unit (70) connected to said actuating unit (30) inorder to actuate simultaneously each said rotary actuator (32); whereinsaid actuators (32) are arranged in as uniform manner around said axis(22) in order to give driving power to said drum (20) in a balancedmanner.
 14. A group according to claim 13, wherein said electroniccontrol unit (70) is suitable to control each said actuator (32) inclockwise and anticlockwise rotation according to speeds adjustable atwill.
 15. A group according to claim 1, wherein said actuating unit (30)and said transmission unit (40) are longitudinally and radiallycontained inside said drum (20), in order to minimize the total bulkalong said axis (22).
 16. A group according to claim 5, wherein saidcontrol means (50) comprise at least a thrust member (54) carried bysaid frame (10) in combination with said drum in order to contrast amovement of axial rotation thereof.
 17. A group according to claim 6,wherein said control means (50) comprise at least a thrust member (54)carried by said frame (10) in combination with said drum (20) in orderto contrast a movement of axial rotation thereof.
 18. A group accordingto claim 7, wherein said control means (50) comprise at least a thrustmember (54) carried by said frame (10) in combination with said drum inorder to contrast a movement of axial rotation thereof.